Former Ha’aretz Editor to Speak in Australia

The New Israel Fund’s Australian branch has confirmed it is bringing former Haaretz Editor-in-Chief David Landau to Australia on a speaking tour next month.

David Landau

Mr Landau – who appeared on ABC’s Lateline last Tuesday night to discuss the release of Gilad Shalit– will address a variety of invited audiences in Sydney and Melbourne between November 14 and 27.

His visit comes less than six months after the formal launch of the Australian branch of the New Israel Fund by NIF president Naomi Chazan in June.

The New Israel Fund’s Australian president, Robin Margo, said Mr Landau’s visit was a mark of mainstream recognition for the new organisation and would encourage support from more people who share its values.

“This is David Landau’s first visit to Australia, a unique opportunity to hear an independent voice reflect on a dramatic period of upheaval in Israel and the Middle East,” he said.

He added that Mr Landau’s long and celebrated career in journalism – first as diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, then as Editor-in-Chief of the influential Haaretz and today with The Economist – gives him authoritative insight into Israel’s predicament.

A frequent guest commentator for the BBC and American networks, Mr Landau is also an acclaimed author. His 1993 book, Piety and Power, painted an intimate portrayal of the world of Jewish fundamentalism and Ben-Gurion – A Political Life: Shimon Peres in Conversation with David Landau was recently published. His biography of former PM Ariel Sharon is due out next year.

An Orthodox Jew, Mr Landau emigrated from London to Israel, where he studied in yeshivas before embarking on a career in journalism.

The New Israel Fund is a partnership of Israelis and supporters of Israel worldwide, dedicated to a vision of Israel as both the Jewish homeland and a shared society at peace with itself and its neighbours. The New Israel Fund strengthens organisations and leaders that work to achieve equality for all the citizens of the state; realise the civil and human rights of all, including Palestinian citizens of Israel; recognise and reinforce the essential pluralism of Israeli society; and empower groups on the economic margins of Israeli society.

Building a viable and free society committed to social justice is the medium through which the New Israel Fund has contributed to the strengthening of Israeli democracy. Widely credited with building Israel’s progressive civil society from scratch, it has provided over $US200 million to more than 800 cutting-edge organisations since its inception.

The ABC interview revealed a not so impressively smart David Landau.
Motivated by strong prejudice against the Israeli “right” and quite obsessive with Bibi Netanyahu’s image, Landau contradicts himself in the interview to the point of uncontrolled bi-pollar absurdities. In one sentence he criticises Netanyahu for delaying Gilad Shalit’s release only to contradict himself a few words later by pretending that he is concerned about the release of Hamas criminals. Generally ,in the interview, Landau improvises replies alternating between a “concerned” Israeli and an inveterate critic of Netanyahu. As, essentially, a liberally and uncontrolled verbose opponent of almost anything the Government of Israel does and as a devout “peacenik” , as a profile conclusion, an obtuse and miopic deffender of the palestinian cause, David Landau is a perfect mouth piece for the NIF. In a calculating way, NIFAu is allowing only “by invitation” his public appearances, thus claiming afterwards a “complete success” of his tour.
There is one kind of transparency with this NIF mob and it reeks of laughable manipulation of its farcical image.As such, David Landau and NIF deserve each other.

I congratulate NIF Australia on bringing David Landau to Australia. Landau will truly highlight NIF’s Zionist credentials. It was Landau after all, orthodox Jew that he is, who stated to Condi Rice, that it was his “wet dream” that Israel should be coerced to submit to Pally demands. And it was under Landau’s editorship too, that exposed defamations of Israel were never retracted by Ha’aretz. So yes, Landau is a most appropriate example of NIF’s position on Israel and ethics. But I do wonder, how it is that an organisation formed just six months ago has the funds to bring anyone to our shores. Does the NIF get funds from the EU or other non-Israeli sources?

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